Baker Without Borders

I had a jar of Turkish grape molasses (one of several varieties of fruit molasses called pekmez) sitting on my kitchen counter, and wanted to bake something chocolatey with it. As I learned from making Martha Stewart’s chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies years ago, molasses and chocolate are a winning combination. Holiday cookie season was already … Continue reading Maple Molasses Brownie Cake

A couple weeks after posting a recipe for pistachio walnut snowballs, and three years after developing a chocolate chestnut snowball, I came up with yet another variation on my favorite holiday cookie. Also known as Russian tea cakes and Mexican wedding cookies, snowballs are typically made from shortbread dough infused with pecans, almonds, or walnuts. After … Continue reading Chocolate Chip Snowballs

Hanukkah donuts (sufganiyot) are typically filled with jelly, but I prefer them with custard. I experimented with making custard using buttermilk, and the result is tangy yet sweet, almost like a rich, creamy vanilla yogurt. The donuts themselves are made with pizza dough, a tip suggested by various food blogs. The idea is to use … Continue reading Buttermilk Custard Donuts

These festive shortbread cookies, also known as Russian tea cakes and Mexican wedding cookies, are rolled in powdered sugar, resembling snowballs. The rich dough is typically packed with pecans, walnuts, or almonds. My favorite recipe, from The Good Cookie, by pastry chef Tish Boyle, is delicious as is, but I couldn’t resist swapping in some … Continue reading Pistachio Walnut Snowballs

This delightfully creamy yet relatively healthy version of a classic autumn dessert can be served as pie slices or bars – or both; I served bite-sized pieces to my infant sons on Thanksgiving. The original recipe, from the food blog Minimalist Baker, is vegan and gluten free. My adaptation calls for Greek yogurt, rather than … Continue reading Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Oat Crust

This quick bread, adapted from a recipe on the blog Tutti Dolci, is one of my all-time favorites. It has a decadent streusel topping, a marzipan-like almond flavor, a hint of citrus, and sour, tangy bursts of fresh cranberry. Mashed banana, which I substituted for about half the sugar in the original recipe, yields a … Continue reading Banana Cranberry Streusel Bread

These flavorful thumbprint cookies are inspired by my 9-month-old twin sons’ favorite “dessert:” dried Turkish apricots, simmered in water, and then pureed along with almonds or other nuts. The cookie is rich and chocolatey, the apricot filling tangy, earthy, and subtly sweet. Crunchy pistachio pairs nicely, and adds vibrant color. To thin out the apricot … Continue reading Chocolate, Pistachio, and Apricot Thumbprint Cookies

The other day, I was craving brownies, but happened to come across a recipe for pecan pie bars. So I set out to make a fusion, of sorts, of the two classic American desserts. I adapted an excellent brownie recipe from Smitten Kitchen, swapping out sugar for maple syrup, adding toasted pecans, and substituting a … Continue reading Maple Pecan Brownies

This recipe is my latest twist on jeera biscuits, a traditional South Asian shortbread cookie studded with toasted cumin seeds. (My vegan coconut cumin cookies and cumin fennel biscotti were also inspired by the classic teatime snack.) Fennel seeds lend a warm, licorice-like flavor to these savory-sweet cookies, and shredded coconut adds a nice crunch. … Continue reading Fennel Coconut Shortbread

The other day, I roasted some honeynut squash, a slightly sweeter version of butternut squash, and incorporated it into one of the lightest, fluffiest quick breads I’ve ever tasted, adapted from a pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe on one of my favorite baking blogs, Tutti Dolci. I subtracted the chocolate chips, sweetened the bread with … Continue reading Pumpkin Walnut Bread